St Alphege Infant and Nursery School: Nursery Review

Play, language and growing independence give St Alphege’s nursery its character. Children aged three and four attend the nursery within St Alphege Church of England Infant and Nursery School on New Road, Solihull. The Infant and Nursery School stands beside St Alphege Church, and Christian principles shape its curriculum.

Ofsted judged the school’s early years provision Good at the inspection on 15 and 16 July 2025. That judgement covers early years within the school; it is not a separate nursery rating.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum uses play to develop children’s learning. Birth to 5 Matters and Development Matters guide the approach. Its starting points are conversation, physical development and learning to manage feelings and relationships. For parents, that means early education involves learning how to communicate and take part alongside other children, as well as acquiring knowledge.

Music brings concrete activities into that approach. Early years children explore sounds, sing daily, move and use tactile instruments. These give children ways to participate through movement and touch as well as speech. Physical education also develops small movements and larger body movements through individual games and games played in teams.

Repeated routines structure the nursery day, helping children practise doing things for themselves. In July 2025, children were developing curiosity and independence from Nursery onwards, while early years children showed sustained interest in learning.

Early writing. Some early years children had difficulty controlling small hand movements in July 2025, and the school’s teaching of writing skills needed strengthening. Families should keep this development area in mind alongside the positive early years judgement.

The published 2025–2026 staffing structure lists a nursery class teacher and nursery teaching support roles. Parents can receive teacher messages through Class Dojo, where photographs and class posts also offer a window into children’s activities. This provides a practical connection between learning at nursery and conversations at home.

For children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), the school develops individual support plans with parents. Families are involved in planning and reviewing support, giving them a role in shaping the strategies used for their child. The Infant and Nursery School also has a designated safeguarding lead, with concerns directed to safeguarding@stalphege.solihull.sch.uk.

Lunch can be brought from home or bought as a hot school meal. Meals are excluded from government childcare funding, so families choosing a full day need to plan for lunch separately.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate application through Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council admissions. For September 2026 entry, the deadline was 15 January 2026; that application cycle is now past.

Transition support for children with SEND involves practitioners working with parents and receiving schools when children move from nursery to infant school. This is support for the change in setting, separate from the allocation of a Reception place.

Morning sessions run from 8.45am to 11.45am and provide 15 funded hours each week. Full days run from 8.45am to 2.45pm, using either 30 funded hours for eligible families or 15 funded hours combined with paid afternoons. Families claiming 30 hours must apply through the government scheme and supply an eligibility code.

An optional extension runs until 3.25pm and carries an additional charge. Contact the school for current charges. Nursery applications go directly to the school using its Nursery Application Form. For enquiries, email officeinf@stalphege.solihull.sch.uk or call 0121 705 0443. Prospective parents can also telephone the office to arrange a school visit.